Associate Professor Amy Morsman has been awarded a Whiting Foundation fellowship for a project titled The Worlds of Solomon Northup: Exploring African-American Life in Freedom and Slavery. The grant will fund travel to Louisiana to research primary documents related to Northup's twelve-year enslavement there, and to create a digital resource to understand the impact of slavery and race on American communities before and during the Civil War.

Congratulations to senior history majors Michelle Kim and Maeve Moynihan, two of eight Middlebury students to receive a Fulbright Award. Michelle Kim will be teaching English in Russia and Maeve Moynihan will be teaching English in Spain.

The American Historical Association recently published the article History Is Not a Useless Major which discusses the myths about job prospects for recent history majors.

Assistant Professor of History

Rebecca Mitchell joined the faculty at Middlebury College in January 2016. She studied both music and Russian language and culture at the University of Saskatchewan (B.Mus.), Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University (M.Mus.), and Carleton University (M.A.), before devoting herself to the exploration of Russian history. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011. A native of northeastern Saskatchewan (Canada), her research interests have taken her throughout Europe, the UK, and Russia. She teaches a wide range of courses on the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, comparative Communism, and the intersections between music and power in history. Her first book, Nietzsche’s Orphans: Music, Metaphysics and the Twilight of the Russian Empire (Yale University Press, 2016), examines the interrelationship between imperial identity, nationalist tensions, philosophical ideals, and musical life in the final years of the Russian Empire (1905-1917). She has received research funding from numerous sources, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, and the University of Illinois Department of History.

Publications:

Nietzsche’s Orphans: Music, Metaphysics and the Twilight of the Russian Empire, 1905-1917 (Yale University Press, January 2016).

“Music and Russian Identity in War and Revolution, 1914-1922.” The Cultural History of Russia in the Great War and Revolution, 1914-1922, ed. Murray Frame, Boris Kolonitskii, Steven Marks and Melissa Stockdale (Slavica Publishers, 2014), 221-243.

“How Russian was Wagner? Russian Campaigns to Defend or Destroy the German Composer during the Great War (1914-1917),” in Wagner in Russia, Poland and the Czech Lands – Musical, Literary, and Cultural Perspectives, ed. Anastasia Belina-Johnson and Stephen Muir(Ashgate, 2013), 51-71.

“‘Shostakovich and the Jews?’: Music, Memory and Soviet Jewish Identity after World War II”. Presented at the Jewish Studies Association (Boston), December 2015.

Courses

Course List:

Courses offered in the past four years. ▲indicates offered in the current term▹indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]

FYSE 1482 - Marx and Marxism

Marx and Marxism
Is Marxism still relevant in a world that has witnessed the collapse of most self-declared Marxist states? To address this question, we will explore the development of central Marxist concepts (including class struggle, alienation, revolution) both in Marx’s own words and in the writings and actions of those he inspired. Central to our inquiry will be consideration of the historical relationship between Marxist theory and practice (in a range of geographic and cultural contexts) and the adaptation of Marxist ideas for cultural and political critiques in the West. 3 hrs. sem. CMP CW HIS

HIST 0116 - Music, Power, Resistance

Music, Power, and Resistance in World History
In this course we will examine the conflicting relationship between music, power, and resistance in world history. Beginning with ancient Greece, we will discuss the relationship between music and power in a wide range of cultural and historical contexts, including music’s relation to religious power (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), political power (China, Europe, North and South America, Africa), and social power (gender, ethnicity, class). Questions of state censorship, propaganda, and musical expressions of dissent will be highlighted, as well as the interconnection between aesthetic choices, social status, and political views. Musical sources will range from classical to popular forms. No prior musical training required. 3 hrs. lect./disc. ART CMP HIS

HIST 0247 - Tsars, Tsarinas, & Terrorists

Russia: Tsars, Tsarinas, and Terrorists
In this course we will follow Russia’s development, expansion and transformation from its earliest beginnings to the revolutionary cataclysms of the early 20th century. How and why did Russia come to dominate a vast Eurasian space? How did Russia’s Tsars and Tsarinas exert control over diverse cultures, languages, religions and peoples? What impact did this have on the lives of their subjects? How was Russian identity defined within the context of a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional empire? Central themes will include political governance, imperial expansion, ethnic relations, religious identity, social upheaval, and the emergence of the radical intelligentsia. 3 hrs lect./disc. AAL CMP HIS

HIST 0248 - The Soviet Experiment
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The Soviet Experiment
In this course we will explore the Soviet attempt to forge a fundamentally new form of human life. Starting with the revolutionary movement of the early 20th century, we will examine the development and ultimate downfall of the USSR. What was Soviet communism (both in idea and in practice)? How did its implementation and development transform local identities (religious, ethnic/national, social)? How did internal and external factors (political, social, economic) transform Soviet policy and life? Was the collapse of the USSR inevitable? Special attention will be paid both to political leaders and ordinary people (believers, collaborators, victims, dissidents, outcasts). 3 hrs lect./disc. AAL CMP EUR HIS

HIST 0313 - Revolutionary Russia
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Revolutionary Russia
The Russian Revolution was a continuum of violence that, through years of civil war and political, social and cultural revolutions, sought to transform the basis of human existence and usher in a utopian future, imposing “Marxist” values upon diverse local cultures and contexts. We will examine the rise and fall of revolutionary sentiment from late-imperial terrorism through the establishment of Stalin’s dictatorship. Through analysis of primary and secondary sources, students will assess both the manifold ambitions of the revolutionary years and how memory of 1917 has been used to justify, critique and at times repossess aspects of Russian/Soviet history. 3 hrs sem. CMP EUR HIS

HIST 0432 - Russia's Imperial Borderlands
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Russia’s Imperial Borderlands
In this course we will explore the complex fabric of Russia’s multi-ethnic borderlands in the 19th and 20th centuries. How did shifting relations with Russia and other imperial systems shape local identities? How and when did nationalist sentiment emerge in these regions, and how did the imperial center(s) respond? How did shifting borders affect identity formation? Did the creation of the Soviet Union mark the end of empire or its transformation into new forms? Regions to be discussed include Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Georgia, the Baltic countries, and the Central Asian states. 3hrs lect/disc. AAL CMP HIS NOA

HIST 0600 - History Research Seminar
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History Research Seminar
All history majors who have not taken a writing and research seminar are required to take HIST 0600 in their junior fall or, if abroad at that time, their senior fall semester. In this course, students will conceive, research, and write a work of history based on primary source material to the degree possible. After reading and discussion on historical methods and research strategies, students will pursue a paper topic as approved by the course professors. HIST 0600 is also open to International Studies and Environmental Studies majors with a disciplinary focus in history. 3 hr. sem

HIST 0700 - Senior Independent Study
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The History Senior Thesis is required of all majors. It is written over two terms, with the final grade applying to both terms. The project is generally begun in the fall and completed during winter or spring. Approval is required to begin the thesis in winter or spring, and such students must still attend the Thesis Writer's Workshops that take place in fall and winter.